


A Knight To Remember

by BabyGrinch1399, momokos



Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood and Injury, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24497581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyGrinch1399/pseuds/BabyGrinch1399, https://archiveofourown.org/users/momokos/pseuds/momokos
Summary: an injured knight seeks out some help





	A Knight To Remember

**Author's Note:**

> an edited version of a roleplay we did a while back of some of our characters first meeting!

The sounds of gunfire erupted throughout the forests as the birds shot out of the trees in a panic. A horse ran down the dirt path with a bloodied rider wearing silver armour. The rider kept looking behind to see if the attackers were still giving chase. Unbeknownst to them, a fallen log blocked the path, forcing the horse to jump over it which caused the rider to lose their grip and fall off onto the grass, tumbling down a small hill as their helmet fell off, revealing long, red locks of hair.

The rider lay face down on the grass as two sharply dressed assailants approached with assault rifles.

"Hey guys! We got her!" One shouted. The rider quickly sprung to her feet with a mace gripped firmly in her hand as she swung wildly, whacking one in the head before smashing the other in the side of the face, killing both. 

Panting heavily, she pulled her hair from her face- Claudia Falconer; a renowned mercenary with a tragic past and never ending journey. Her cheek had a deep cut along with some bruises spread across her face. She saw her helmet a few inches from the dead bodies and bent over to get it. She hissed loudly at the sudden sharp pain in her abdomen. Looking down, she saw blood forming under her chest plate from where she'd been shot.

"Damn... They actually got me." she cursed to herself before walking back up the hill to her horse.

Throwing her helmet onto the saddle, she pulled her chest plate off and began to rummage through one of the side pouches and pulled out some gauze which she wrapped around the wound. It wasn't much, but it would stop the bleeding. She then pulled out a small brown leather journal. Flipping through the pages, she thought to herself- 

"I should go back to Mama, she seemed to like me. No... I'd look weak, I can't go back. Her hospital doesn't need two weak women" She said to herself before she stopped at a page.  
"Dal Mack..." she said quietly as she tried to remember her. 

"Yes- The Doctor. Perfect" she said as she remembered their last known location. Damn travellers, never want to be found.

Throwing her helmet back on, she put the journal back before and weakly climbed onto the horse with a groan. This wound wasn't making things easier. She had to find the doctor and her boy fast. "Let's go, boy." She said softly to her horse as he trotted off down the path.

After a few hours of riding towards the Mack's last known location, there was sounds of a struggle coming from within the treeline. Claudia pulled the horse to a stop as she examined the area. She then saw what looked like a young male fighting with one of the undead. Holding it out at arms length while trying to stab it with his knife while the creature pushed against his weight. Claudia gave no thought until she saw his face.  
Oscar Mack, Dal's boy. She quickly rushed over on the horse and pulled her mace from her belt before swinging it into the walker's head, smashing it to pieces. Staring down at the boy from her horse, she gripped her mace and spoke through her helmet "Are you Oscar Mack?"

The Doctor's boy was nervous. His search for his mother's whereabouts had been fruitless and he hadn't had an actual one-on-one conversation with an actual person in over a few weeks, which was frying his nerves considerably.  
While doing what he knew best (Walking in whatever direction the wind brought you and see where that took you.) He could in the distance hear ..something?

While he was excited at the possibility of having some actual honest to god human interaction, he knew to keep his guard up. He couldn't make that mistake again... just because someone wasn't rotting and undead didn't mean they were completely trustworthy. 

He crouched between a bush and a tree a little ways away, trying to keep as hidden as he could while keeping his ears peeled, focusing on the sounds. He furrowed his brow, trying to work out just what this sound was that he was hearing- he just couldn't put his finger on it. It was probably due to his nerves being a bit fried that he focused so much on this and not the other thing approaching him until he was caught off guard by the snap of a twig underfoot behind him.

'So much for keeping my guard up', he thought miserably. He froze for a second like a deer caught in headlights, his face blanched, until his brain kicked in and he rose up just in time to try and hold off an undead that lunged for him. Sure, he may have let out a little shriek in response but whatever! He raised one arm up and tried to keep the damn thing away while he stumbled about, his other hand reaching for his knife and attempting to slash at it, god, talk about lucky, huh? Getting a few nicks in, he managed to shove it away, raising his knife ready to take it down and-

Oscar blinked, brain trying to process what had just happened. He stood there tense with his weapon still raised, his eyes flickered from the undead's remains- now taking vacancy on the ground, it's skull caved in and smashed to gory disgusting pieces- to the redheaded woman towering above him from her perch on the- oh wow it was a horse, THAT was the sound he was hearing earlier!

"Huh?!" He questioned, realising his savior had spoken; "Oh! Uh.. yeah that's me!" He relaxed, dropping his hands to his sides, putting his knife pack in its sheath and fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket, still a bit skittish.

"That was real cool! Thanks for ah.. y'know, saving my backside there!" He babbled, then caught sight of her midsection. While decked out in armour, there was some bloodied gauze peeking out, that combined with telltale sign of laboured breathing he could hear slightly filtered by her helmet, he knew what was up.

"Oh shoot- you're injured!" He exclaimed, already getting to work, looking down and pulling his backpack off his back and reaching inside for his medical supplies.  
"Ahh- well obviously you knew that already, sorry-" he mumbled then looked back up, gesturing with his medkit. "May I?" 

Claudia stared down at the boy. With one swift flick, the blood and brain shot off the mace onto the ground. Sliding the mace into her belt, she then reached down and grabbed him while he spoke on about her wound.  
With a loud grunt, she lifted him off the ground and onto the horse as if he was weightless. "Not right now... We need to get to shelter first." she spoke as she clicked her tongue and flicked the reigns, making the horse trot off.

Letting out a gasp as his feet left the firm ground as he was lifted up onto the horse by the collar of his jacket, Oscar's eyebrows shot up, "Oh! Please don't strain yourself!!" He worried, he meekishly placed his hands on her shoulders- trying not to either fall off the horse as it started its journey or accidentally brush up against Claudia's wound. He looked down, feeling a little caught off guard at just how high up he was, this sure was something else. 

"You were lucky I found you." she spoke after a short while. "I was about to give up hope. Admittedly it wasn't you I was looking for, but your mother. Where is she?" Claudia asked

Hearing Claudia speak, however, his head snapped right back up- though he felt a little awkward not being able to really see her face as she spoke.

'I guess horseback isn't really intended with conversation in mind,' he quickly thought to himself, gazing at the back of her helmet.

However, at the mention of Dal his shoulders sagged and he bit his lip slightly. "We...uh, got caught in some trouble a while back and got seperated. I've been looking for her but I haven't seen her since. " He spoke with stress and sadness evident in his tone. He took in a deep breath.

"Though don't worry, she's taught me everything she knows so I can still patch you up!" He tried to smile, hoping that his mother would be happy he was trying his best to still help people in her absence.

"I would hope so. Your mother fixed me up last time. Damn near saved my life. Hopefully you're as good as she is. I'm trusting you with my life here, it's in your hands." She said as the horse trotted down the dirt path. Breathing heavily, she looked around; hoping to find shelter really soon.  
He swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded. "Don't worry- I'll make sure you're as good as new in no time." He reassured her.  
"So-uh.. My Mom really helped you out before? Uh.. What's your name?" He couldn't help but feel a little awkward with the situation- granted yes, he hadn't had a look at her face and may yet recognise her then but regardless; his mother had seemingly really helped her out and she recognised him yet he didn't really have a clue who she was- he had seen so many people through his mother that it was hard to remember every single voice or face.  
Though he had to push that aside of course, there were more important matters at hand he was reminded due to the strained breathing from the horse's rider.

"Claudia Falconer. You probably won't remember me" she said as she took her helmet off, letting her red hair slither down and sit on her armour. It was then that Oscar saw the extent of her wounds as her face was severely cut and bruised.

He furrowed his brow, the name not doing anything to jog his memory, "I'm sorry... " he apologised, feeling a bit rude for not being able to recall her. If only his Mom was here, he knew she would have probably recognised Claudia as soon as she spoke a single word, she was good with people like that. 

Claudia scoffed at his apology "Don't be sorry, be on your game. I need you to be efficient, think you can do that?" she turned to look at him. Her face was chalk white and her eyes were sunken in with black rings. She needed to rest soon. He solemnly nodded in response.

It was as he was looking at Claudia something caught his eye from in front of the duo. Now. his eyesight wasn't the best when it came to things pretty far away (Which he could make do with- you didn’t need to be able to make out the details of leaves on trees or rocks on the ground to be able to patch someone up) but if squinted he could just about make out...something.

"You see that?" He asked, still holding onto Claudia's shoulder with one hand and using the other to point in it's direction. 

Looking over to where Oscar was pointing, she squinted. "What is it?" she asked while stopping the horse and turning to Oscar.

Oscar bit his lip nervously, only just barely able to make it out, "It looks like a... cave? Or well, the entrance to one anyway??" He paused, looking back to the redhead, taking note of her injuries and feeling a hint more panic well up within himself. "It might be our best shot at having somewhere to patch you up?"

She looked over to see what he was pointing at as she chuckled lightly. 

"Yeah... That'll do." she wheezed as she began to lead her horse over to the cave. However, she suddenly felt faint as her vision began to blur.

"...Got it." He nodded gravely. 'Okay Oscar. You got this... You got someone counting on you here, you gotta make sure she's okay," he thought to himself as the horse trotted it's way to the cave. Looking at the woman right now. He could tell something was wrong, he couldn't miss the change in body language coming from the woman in front of him and just as he began to call her name to make sure she was okay- 

Her head ached as she groaned before slowly sliding off the horse and falling onto the ground below. Thump. She fell too quick and too heavy for him to do anything to stop her descent.

Her eyes were closed and she was unresponsive. To make matters worse, the sound of thunder boomed in the distance as the grey clouds started to release rain droplets around the forest, pinging off Claudia's armour.

"Oh- CRAP!!" He exclaimed, scrambling down from the horse to the muddy ground below. He knelt down over her body to check her out- She was out cold and her breathing was strained to all hell and back but she was still alive, for now at least. He looked over to see the cave, the horse did it's job and got them considerably closer to their destination- at least that turned out all right. 

Taking a deep breath and gathering his strength, he hooked his arms under her armpits and shakily rose up. It was awkward due to her armour plating and the rain starting to patter down but dragging her along the mud was the only way he could possibly transfer her to shelter- 

(He wasn't going to kid himself on and even attempt to properly lift her up, with their differences in build and her choice in clothing, all that would accomplish would be wasting precious time, leaving him strained and out of breath and more importantly, leaving Claudia closer to Death’s doorstep.)

After what was a few minutes but felt like a short panic filled eternity to the young rain drenched medic, he dragged her into shelter and tried his best to set her down in the recovery position.

He emptied to contents of his bag, then placed the canvas material under Claudia's neck, bunched up to try give some support. Then he go to work, taking piece by piece of her armour off as quick but as delicate as he possibly could- getting a good look at the extent of her injuries- bullet wound with no exit point, so he had that to take out, a lot of scrapes and cuts which could be dealt with afterwards- each piece was put to the side. 

He paused for all but a second when it came to taking her weapons off of her unconscious form, he felt guilt, she was already pretty defenceless- knocked out and injured as she was, but he had a job to... nonetheless, he placed them nearby, easily within grabbing range.

"You're lucky you found help..." he murmured to himself while pulling out his medkit, mentally going through everything he'd need to help her while pulling on a pair of gloves.

"You seem so strong.. so I know you'll pull through this." He reassured her, even though he knew she wouldn't hear.. it helped keep him calm though, which is what she needed him to be right now. Taking a breath, he got to it.  
Peeling away the shoddily wrapped gauze and seeing the bullet wound, he pulled out the tweezers. Okay, this. This, he could handle. He's got this.

Claudia lay still and silent. Her breathing was faint but it was there. She barely even had a reaction to getting the bullet removed. With the removal of the bullet, it opened up a new problem. Claudia needed blood. But her blood type was unknown.  
Before Oscar could figure out a solution to the problem, he heard the sounds of guns cocking behind him.

"Step aside, boy." A muffled voice said through a mask.

Two sharply dressed, armed men stood at the entrance of the cave, aiming red painted submachine guns at him. 

He froze. His mouth left agape as a shot of fear went through him. ‘Okay, who the hell were these guys?!’ Oscar thought to himself as he scrambled around and stared up at the duo. Oh-Ohh… Swankily dressed guys with guns. This was the last thing he needed right now, he was just applying bandages to the wound and trying to figure out how he was going to deal with the blood problem when he was interrupted. God, he didn’t even hear them approach, sound of their footsteps drowned out by the rain and the sound of his heart beating in his ears.

"We want the girl. Hand her over and we'll let you live" one said. Despite their excellent taste in fashion, this did not make them trustworthy. It was most likely used as a distraction. The tone of their voices suggested that they were not going to take care of Claudia, and that Oscar wouldn't be safe if he accepted their offer.

“Now wait a second- hold on! You….You can’t expect me to just do it like that… she’s my patient and at the very least I- I need to finish the job! ” He pleaded, his big brown eyes glancing to their weapons as he gulped, trying to buy some time while he attempted to think of a plan, obviously he wasn’t gonna give her to them on a platter just like that but couldn’t exactly just kick these guys asses at the drop of a hat right now either. 

He prayed that they wouldn’t just open fire on him right then and there- after all, he wasn’t particularly dangerous looking. Yeah, he was tall but in the ‘lanky beanpole with next to no muscle’- type of way. Add the fact that he was drenched and slightly shaking, his hair pathetically plastered against his forehead and his hands were gripped onto a roll of bandages and it didn't exactly paint most imposing figure. 

Speaking of those bandages though, he slowly dropped them down to his side near the medkit and the pile of armour (and slightly hidden weapons, oh god, please don’t notice them…) and placed his hand there.  
‘Please don’t shoot, please don’t shoot’ his thoughts repeated as a mantra to himself.

"C'mon, Don. He ain't worth our time. Just grab the bitch and let's report back to Big Top. I wanna get out of this rain." The other man said as he looked at his partner who scoffed and grunted.

"Fine, fuck it."

The man simply known as 'Don' shouldered his rifle and began to approach the cave entrance. He didn't even look at Oscar, not even considering him as a threat; Which might've been his biggest mistake. 

The other man was scanning the surrounding forests for any intruders, not paying attention to his partner who began to get closer to the cave with a casual stroll. It was up to Oscar to make a decision. To simply hand the girl over without hassle or put up a fight and defend this total stranger who saved his life once and revealed that her reasons were more mercenary than out of the kindness of her heart. 

The rain began to pick up and fall heavier as the man reached closer. Oscar's window of opportunity was closing, it was just as well Don couldn't see Oscar's arm shrouded in shadow, nearing one of Claudia's daggers.

He knew exactly what he was going to do here- it didn’t matter that Claudia hadn’t saved him out of the goodness of her heart or that he wasn’t exactly the one she was looking for in the first place. She put trust in him and at this moment in time? She couldn’t protect herself. He thought of his Mom, and how he knew how utterly disappointed she’d be to hear he just let these goons take away someone she knew to do god knows what? And just to save his own backside? 

His decision was made. 

He’s got this. 

Blindly picking one of Claudia’s daggers while he stared at the man approaching, he gripped it until his knuckles were white, not that you’d be able to see that in the shadows of the cave. As soon as he strided close enough, he knew this was the moment, and probably the only moment he would get. His long legs shot up from the ground and he raised his arm, bringing the blade flat down and striking the goon in the chest with a gasp. 

He’d seen enough people with stab wounds and had enough knowledge about the human body that he had a good grasp of directly where it would hurt. The blade was sharp, Claudia kept it in good shape; that was for sure, so it pierced the man way easier than he kind of expected it to. His eyes were wide, panicked, and his shoulders shook as he breathed heavily. Oh god. He yanked the knife out him and clutched it like a lifeline. 

As Oscar's decision was made, a flash of lightning struck a nearby tree, illuminating the area for a second. The man could only see the glint of a blade in Oscar's hand briefly before he felt the sudden sharp pain in the centre of his chest. Gasping loudly, he looked down at the knife sticking out of him in disbelief. He stood idly while slowly looking back up at Oscar before he tensed up at the blade sliding out of him, causing blood to pour down his nice green jacket like a fountain. He hopelessly gripped his wound in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding as he fell to his knees in horror. Taking one final look up at his killer, Don reached out to him with his blood soaked glove before falling face first onto the rocks as a pool of blood flow out from under him.

The other man turned to see the corpse of his partner with Oscar standing over him, clenching a well sharpened dagger. To his shock and horror, this defenceless Waster wasn't so meek after all. 

"Don! What the fuck?" he exclaimed in confusion as he tried to get his rifle ready to fire, but was finding difficulty aiming in the downpour. 

Hearing the other man speak brought him back to reality, oh god, he had nearly forgotten there was two of them- The knife he gripped onto clattered to the bloody ground below as he dropped it in his panic. Oscar saw the rifle of his victim laying a few inches away from him, it was now or never.  
He flung himself at the discarded rifle and clutched it, it wasn’t something he was used to at all but he couldn’t be choosey right now, he kinda really wanted to live thank you very much!! 

He could just barely make out the shape of the other man out in the rain, so he aimed the gun in his direction and squeezed the trigger in a panic, wanting to shoot him before he himself ended up lying on the ground, just as dead as Don. 

The man flinched and ducked at hearing the automatic gunfire. While Oscar's aim needed some 'improvements' for lack of a better word, his erratic and panicked method of spray and pray seemed to pay off as some lucky shots managed to hit the second assailant who fell to the ground before he managed to shoot off. 

The rifle that Oscar clutched so tightly finally clicked empty as the man screamed out in agony with multiple bullet wounds scattered around his body, the rain washing away any blood that poured out from the wounds, causing a red stream of blood to flow down into the cave to pool at Oscar's feet, staining the whites of the soles.

The man grabbed his sidearm and attempted to pull it out in a last ditch effort to kill Oscar, but his last stand was cut short when a deafening crack echoed through the forest just as blood was seen shooting out of his head before he fell back, dead. The panic seemed to be over, Claudia was safe for now, but there was another shooter about, and it was unknown if he was friendly or not. 

Loud footsteps were heard hitting off the nearby rocks as a large male approached with his hands clenched tightly around a shiny and heavyweight revolver that was aimed at the dead assailant. Turning his head to the cave, he perked up as he saw the faint outlines of Oscar and Claudia.

"Is everyone alright in there?" he called out, hoping just he killed the right person.

Oscar stared out the cave entrance, letting out a half choked gasp as the newcomer finished the job. God, please don’t be someone ELSE trying to grab Claudia and make off with her. 

When she was back up and running, there was no way he wasn’t going to ask what the deal with those guys were. 

Still holding onto the empty gun, though more as a means of comfort rather than being an actual way of defending himself due to- well, being empty. He squinted at man. He was… large, probably taller than him, though that was pretty hard to tell at a distance. 

“I--Uh-I got a women here-injured.” He stuttered. “ She came to me all banged up and I took a bullet out of her gut but ..Uh..she’s lost a lot of blood.” As he tentatively answered, he positioned himself so that he could check Claudia’s vitals without his back to the large man… He wasn’t making that mistake again.

He put the gun down RIGHT by his side. He tried to will his shoulders from shaking as he hunched over her, he felt queasy and awful from the comedown of the previous danger but he had more pressing matters at hand. It took all his willpower trying to stop his hands from shaking.

Oh Mr Revolver Man….please please please just be a nice and not another crazy guy.

“Those guys came in here...They- They came in here with their guns, caught me off guard and said that if I handed her over to them,” He gulped. “They’d let me live.”

Okay, she was still breathing enough to be classified as alive but he worried about how long that would last if she was left with such a low amount of blood. 

"I don't know what they wanted with her but.. she's unconscious and hurt. I couldn't just- just hand her over." He glanced back up at him.

The man effortlessly spun his revolver and let it fall into his hip holster while holding his hand out as a sign of peace "take it easy son" he said with a soothing, father like voice as he slowly took a few steps towards them "you said your friend was hurt and losing blood. What blood type is she, do you know?" he asked as he stopped at the entrance of the cave "my name is Henry Garfield. What's yours?" he questioned, making small talk to calm Oscar down enough to lower the rifle. 

He sighed a sigh of relief- so far so good.  
“Her name's Claudia. And uh- I'm Oscar Mack...it'snicetomeetyou?” He babbled, introducing the both of them. 

"May I come in?"

He nodded at the man, allowing him into the cave. He heard that voice and god he swore he felt calmer already. “Her blood type… I didn't get the chance to ask her. She passed out on our way here.” There was a splatter of blood on her face that wasn't there before. He tugged down his sleeve to wipe it away.

Henry nodded as he put his hands on his hips while looking at the equipment and armour sprawled out over the cave floor.

"Well, Oscar. You got a good set up here" he said with a quick chuckle.

“Aw yeah.. All the armour and weapons and stuff is hers- there's no way i'd ever be strong enough to lug that about.” The young man laughed. “Just this is mine.” He gestured to his medical supplies and the few other things that he'd emptied out of his bag.

"Eat your Weetabix and you'd be as strong as a bear." he said with a grin while looking at the silver armour. Oscar replied to this with a confused tilt of the head and a soft tug to his lips. He eaten wheat before and he’s CERTAIN that a bear could easily maul him apart regardless of what he had had for breakfast. Now, if there was some form of steroids in that cereal and you were eating it for months, maybe you’d have a chance and- wow! he getting caught off track by this dude. He shook his head, soggy curls flopping about his head as Garfield spoke up.

"Okay. I may not be some saviour but I think I can help. I donated blood once as a kid and yeah I may have puked and passed out- but that was a different time, totally not me now." He grunted.  
"The people there said that my blood type was something like O negative I think? they said something about how it was rare and how they always needed it because it was so good, I never really paid attention when a needle was sticking out of my arm. You look like a nice little doctor fellow, do you think if I give blood to her it'll make her feel better?" he asked curiously.

As he listened to the older man talk a smile tugged on his lips at his recounting of his past experiences but as soon as he brought up his blood type Oscar gaped, oh man, Henry said he was no saviour but he's just definitely saved the day. 

“You do know why it's so good right??? Your bloods compatible with anyone!! Oh man- you can actually save HER!!” He buzzed, already digging in the kit for everything he'd need.

Garfield tilted his head at Oscar's joyous reaction which made him chuckle nervously.

"For real? So like, it can go into anyone?" he rubbed his wet beard as he shrugged. "I've never been important before."

“Would you..uhh- Come sit down over here? If you actually do wanna, y'know.” He gestured with the packaged syringe he'd pulled out of the bag before patting the ground next to him. 

Henry looked at Oscar and pulled off his jacket to get to his arm.  
"Heck yeah I'll come over and help her! Anything to do my part!" He said as he sat on his knees while rolling his sleeves up for Oscar to take his blood.

Oscar nodded, beyond relieved at this turn of events. Man, what a rollercoaster of events this had turned out to be. He got everything ready to go and then turned to face Henry. His hands gently took hold of the man's left arm, he swabbed at the vein in his elbow. Reaching out for the specialised syringe, with the tube protruding from it, he grabbed it and looked up into Henry's face. 

Henry prepared himself for the inevitable. He appeared to have a phobia of needles, however, a woman's life was far more important than his irrational fears, and he'd be damned if he wouldn't let them stand in the way of his humanity.

“Okay it's going in? Promise you won't puke on me...please.” He joked, as the needle hit that sweet spot and that miracle blood came out. 

"Don't worry, I've outgrown that jazz" he said as he took a deep breath and looked away when he felt it go in and extract his blood.

Oscar's free hand patted Henry's strong shoulder, sensing his discomfort with the situation. “You got this!! The hardest parts already over- just gotta sit through this, Big guy.” He reassured him as he fiddled about with the tubes, making sure everything was in working order. To take the elders mind off of it, Oscar decided to try sparking up conversation. Mostly everybody loved a good little chat. 

“So? Do you uh- live near here? Come here often?”

He gave a soft chuckle as he shook his head "Nah, not at all. I'm a traveller, y'see. Ain't got a place to call home. So I figured I'd be like one of those drifters that go from place to place and help people like Kane in Kung-Fu or the ones folks write about for others to idolise. Though there ain't many folks left these days. You people today have been the first human life I've came across in a long damn while.” He paused.

“I found a girl a few hours ago, she was scared and tired. Was running from those same green coats that you fended off just there. I took her to my car and let her sleep for a while while I went out to investigate the shooting. Told her I'd be back before she could say blueberry pie, very slowly" He grinned.

As he was fiddling away with the tubes he listened to Henry's story, at some point looking up and watching his face as he spoke. He felt a connection with the man due to their shared traveller backgrounds and at the mention of another person getting hounded by these green jacket jerks, his brow furrowed slightly.

What was their deal???? Honestly. 

"What about you and Ms. Claudia over there. What's your story?" he asked as he tried not to think about the fact that he was willingly being drained.

He blinked and snapped out of his thoughts at the question raised. “Ah… I only met Claudia today so you'll need to get her story from her directly when she's better.” His gaze wandered over to her prone form, he hoped that with this blood going into her, she'd be out of the woods sooner rather than later. 

“Me though?? Uh. I'm kinda like you I guess! Well, with the whole traveller part anyways. My Mom wanders everywhere, all over the place offering her skills? You know- With medicine and healing and everything! And that's been my life since forever. Just always on the move which is fun! We've seen so much and met a whole bunch of people. And of course it only made sense for me to start learning how to help out with it all, I already knew a lot from watching her help people.” He recounted, smiling- thinking about it. Though his grin became a tad strained as he went on. 

“We got separated a while ago.. one guy we were treating turned out to be nasty, pretending to be hurt just so him and his pals could steal some of our stuff… They knocked me out and I haven't seen her since.” He paused, looking out the cave entrance into the rain filled surroundings.

“I know she's okay though, she's out there.” 

"Your Mom sounds like a damn fine woman." He smiled while listening to Oscar talk about her, only for his smile to fade and turn into a frown when he heard about her fate.

"Damn, champ. I'm sorry to hear that... Do you know who did it or where they went? Don't give up hope now, maybe she'll wanna repay you for saving her life" he pointed to Claudia.

“C-champ?” he squeaked out, not really used to pet names from anyone bar his mom, especially from men He had just met that day. (Though this one was different, he could tell, he had such a warm aura to him….he kinda felt safe??) Getting his thoughts back in order- Okay Oscar, answer his question instead of just getting kinda flustered. He shook his head, biting his lip with a hint of nervousness. 

“I'd recognise the guy that swindled us if I saw him again? But I have no clue who he was- sane with his pals… I dunno if maybe had some beef with Mom or they just wanted our stuff?”

At that though, He'd taken just about as much blood as he could. He warned Henry before taking it out and reached into his little pouch surrounded by everything medical, taking off one of his latex gloves and reaching into the bag. Pulling out a little plastic baggie filled with a couple of those little homemade biscuits that lasted ages.

“Here- eat one of these! You probably feel queasy right now but trust me, you'll feel better soon…” He dipped his head. “Thank you so much for this.”

Henry chuckled as he nodded "Yeah, it's just the memory of the feeling sticks with you" he joked as he looked back at Claudia who's breathing was faint. 

"I guess You guys are lucky when I found you, she was lucky to find you. Day's like these are the reasons why I still smile. You just get a lucky day and everything turns out alright." he mused as he stared at the the water droplets falling down from stalactites down to stalagmites.

Henry then sighed in relief as the needle was taken out and his elbow was padded up. He then took the biscuit and laughed lightly.

"Hot damn! It's been a long time since I had me one of these!" He said as he shoved the whole thing in his mouth and ate it with a satisfied groan. 

"I never thought I'd see one of those treats again" He said after finishing it as he tried to stand but felt lightheaded and immediately sat back down again. "I just hope it's enough! I don't want my heroic efforts to be in vain!" he said to Oscar who looked like he knew what he was doing, so he let him get to work.

He looked up at Henry and caught sight of him shoving the full biscuit down his throat and god he felt like HE was the one that was gonna choke, what with the laughter that bubbled up his throat. He shook his head, letting out a snort as he cleaned out the cuts. God, what a sight. That probably stopped him from getting crumbs in that beard though, right? Oh- oh wait 

“Please take a moment! You can't really get up and about right now… “ He reached over and patted his shoulder again, “Didn't take enough out of you for it be dangerous- don't worry about that!! But you're gonna be dizzy for a bit.” He smiled and went back to work.  
He grabbed his glove and replaced it, the snap of the latex easily heard as he pulled it on.

"Well, when your redhead friend wakes up, I'll help her help you find your mom, and if she doesn't want to help you, I will at least. Don't you worry about it, sport." he grinned at him.

Claudia's breathing started to calm down as she looked well rested. It was now just the cuts, scrapes and bruises that were to be seen to. When she woke up, she knew that she would be forever in his debt.

He shuffled around Claudia's body, making sure everything with the blood transfer had no complications. He gave a soft laugh. “She- uh. Kinda already saved my behind today? So I dunno. She did say she knew my Mom though, so who knows?” He babbled, and grabbed some wipes and a teensy little tub; beginning the process of cleaning out her cuts since he wasn't really worried about her life being in danger anymore, thanks to Henry’s blood. So, cuts. It took him a moment to process that last part of what he had said. 

He perked up at Henry’s words and smiled right back at him.

“Huh? For real?? You'd really do that?” He was kinda blown away- this guy comes out of nowhere, pretty much saves the day and then offers to help him out with his search? How lucky did he get! “If you're serious about it then god that'd mean the world to me!” 

"For real, for real! What, you think I'm gonna leave you out here on your toosh? You need help, and that's what I'm here for, like I said, Kane in kung-fu!" he pretended like Oscar knew what that was.

He didn't get his reference the first time nor did he get it now but he went along with it anyway, he seemed like he was having fun being….a karate cane? Okay he really really didn't get it, but whatever! 

Still smiling, he cleaned out her cuts. Most of them were benign but there was a couple of nasty ones- and there was NO way he was gonna let her go down from something easily treatable as that when they've got her through the hard stuff. 

“Please just keep sitting down and make yourself comfy for a bit? The last thing we want is for you to fall over and bang your head because you got woozy.” Oscar softly spoke.

"yeah, you're right. That happened the first time I gave blood. I'll never learn" Henry laughed softly as he pulled his jacket over and rummaged around the pockets before pulling out a half empty bottle of Gatorade "Want some?"

He brushed a strand of wet hair off of her face with his fingers after he looked her over, she seemed to be fine.. it was just a matter of waiting now.

At the offer of a drink, it occurred to him how thirsty and tired he felt. Between dragging Claudia and all her heavy ass armour and weapons to shelter, mending her up and all the panic of trying to defend her, he was really feeling the exhaustion start to peek through. 

“Oh! Yes please!” He delightfully nodded, reaching out and gently accepting the offered bottle, uncapping it and taking a quick few sips. God that felt amazing- part to him wanted to gulp the rest of it down but he knew he'd feel rude and plus, when she awoke Claudia would in need of some fluids. He handed it back and cracked his neck. “Thanks for that!” 

He took the gatorade back and drank some while sighing contently before handing it back to his new companion.

The medic sat with his hands on his lap, looking down at them. He didn't want to be awkward and stare while the other drank so he tried to make himself seem busy- he pulled both of his now bloody and soiled gloves off his fingers and shoved them into his pocket, he'd deal with them later. He looked back up when he saw the bottle being offered back to him. 

"For you and the girl when she wakes up. You need it more than me" He offered. Speaking of Claudia, a faint moan was heard from the sleeping woman as she began to stir.

“Oh- thank you! I'm sure she'd be super grateful to have something to drink when she's up.” He held the bottle in both hands, idly picking at the label when he heard the groan. His head snapped round to Claudia's direction, “Well, speaking of which?” 

Henry perked up at hearing Claudia. When he looked over, he saw the redhead slowly rise and look around in confusion before staring down at the wound on her abdomen "what the?... Holy..." she was at a loss for words as to how or why she'd recovered from this life threatening injury before looking up at her travelling companion "Mack?..."

Oscar looked her over, brown eyes filled with relief. “Hey there Claudia- don't worry! You're all patched up, got that bullet out of you and as long as try take it easy for the next while, you'll be good as new!” He softly reassured her, then let Henry speak as he watched his patient. 

"Welcome back to the land of the living, sweetheart. Your little magic doctor saved your life, with my help, obviously." He said, proud of himself that he actually witnessed the blood he provided actually saving someone's life.

At the mention of Henry's part in this he decided to elaborate; “We uh… run into a spot of trouble.” He quickly glanced at the two men's bodies. “And Henry here helped out… You also uh- lost a lot of blood cause of- well, your wound, but he turned out to be a universal donor!! So you got some of his blood keeping you alive now!” He exclaimed, smiling at said man. 

Claudia groaned in pain as she gripped her wound again while she sat upright "You did this?" she asked in disbelief, amazed that Oscar had pulled it off.

"Shit, kid. You really are as good as your mom, maybe even better." She said before looking around to see where she was.  
"Thank you, both of you. I wouldn't be alive if you didn't help" She gave a soft, relieved smile at the two men before looking back out at the bodies.

Oscar fiddled with his hands, nodding bashfully, god.. He thought his Mom probably would have done a better job and he was just happy that she pulled though but wow! What a compliment… it meant a lot to him. 

"I suppose you want answers, about who they are. Right?" she asked as the two men nodded.

"Okay... They're part of some empire or some bullshit. They fall under a group of bandits that live in some big city that call themselves the Wildmen. A guy called Big Top's their leader, and he answers to the kingpin who to my knowledge doesn't even have a name. He runs the trafficking for the group; finds slaves, usually women and brings them back for the kingpin to use as he pleases.”  
“They found me and figured I'd be a good catch, but I put up too much of a fight" She explained as Henry rubbed his beard. 

"That makes sense! The girl I found in the forest was scared for her life when she ran into me. Those assholes were after her!” He exclaimed then paused. “Pardon my language." He quickly apologised on behalf of his foul mouth.

The medic sat and listened, completely enraptured as she explained what those guys were up to… man. How horrendous they sounded... He shuddered thinking about all the messed up stuff they probably did to those poor people.  
What they would have brought upon Claudia and that girl of Henry's too. Whoever this Big Top guy was, he sounded all around nasty. 

"But With those two dead, then that must mean they've lost my scent." She said with a sigh as she saw her dagger laying bloodied on the ground which lead her to believe that Oscar took care of business.  
"You're pretty good, boy" She complimented him before watching the storm outside.

He totally didn't squeak slightly at being complimented again, definitely. He bunched up his shoulders and smiled as he thanked her quietly. 

Realising he still had it in his hands as he went to go fiddle with them, Oscar held out the open bottle of gatorade towards her. “Thirsty?” he questioned. Claudia took the gatorade and took a sip before recoiling and shaking her head.

"Too sweet." She announced before drinking it again. She needed the fluids. Soon after, there was a small amount left in the bottle which Claudia gave back to Oscar to finish.

"The storm will pass soon enough. But I think we should stay here for a while until it does. Then when it's dry, I'll take you to my RV and we'll see what happens from there." Henry told the two. 

“Sounds like a plan!” Oscar buzzed in response, he was really enjoying the man's company, so warm and inviting… it was crazy.

"Alright! I like the enthusiasm, champ! Better than a freakin' cheerleader!" Henry grinned as he slowly stood up. 

He took another small sip of the drink and capped the bottle, swirling the last remnants of the liquid around in it's plastic container. He was glad he had swallowed when Henry made that comment though, he didn't exactly want to spray a gross mixture of spit and juice all over these two people he met today, thank you very much. He coughed and raised his eyebrows; 

“Cheerleader??”  
"Cheerleader!" Henry affirmed happily with a wide smile. However he thought that Oscar was just doing a double take rather than actually asking what a cheerleader was.

He cocked his brow, once again left a bit confused by the other man but he shook with his head and decided to just roll with it? He seemed like he has having fun. 

Claudia nodded slightly in response to the RV plan while her horse entered the cave, drenched as she smiled.  
"Hey, Fulgur" she spoke softly as she petted his head.

Oscar stared at the horse. “Oh shoot!!!” He stressed, in his panic he had completely forgotten about the poor thing out in the rain, way to go, Oscar….  
“I'm sorry, I was so busy trying to get you into shelter and then with everything else I forgot about him…” 

Claudia petted the horse with a laugh "Don't be sorry. He's just a dumbass who likes the rain." she said.

The horse looked rather content, as far as a horse could, now that he looked at it. So that plus Claudia's statement put any worry of the creature hating his guts for just kinda… leaving it..at bay.

“Well.. if you say so!”

Claudia scratched the horses head before she looked over at Oscar with a smile "You can pet him if you want." she offered.

“Oh! Can I?” He excitedly asked, wanting to make sure as he rose up and approached the horse, holding his hand out towards it's nose. “He- Hiya buddy?” He greeted the creature and turned to Claudia, grinning. “He's real nice!”

Claudia sat back and let Oscar pet the horse who stood there and allowed it to happen as he loved attention. "He's real nice, ain't he?" She asked.

"Maybe I'll teach you to ride one day." she offered as she rubbed her toned arms which were had their fare share of scars.

“He's lovely…” he answered, stroking his head, paying no mind to the damp fur. “Ohh- really? I'd love that!!” He perked up at the idea, the thought of going on the creature and not having to cling on to the rider was kinda exciting, actually! “Was it hard to learn how to?” He asked.

"Not really. Once you tame it, and understand it's a living animal, it's pretty easy. for me anyway. I'm sure if you can learn all that medical mumbo jumbo then you can learn to ride a horse" she grinned.  
He nodded, taking in what she said...though he didn’t really think that riding an animal that could kick you off it if it really wanted to and patching people up were really comparable but if she thought he could handle it then well, guess he’d have to believe her! He then stopped and glanced over at Garfield, hearing the commotion.

Henry was looting the bodies for any ammunition or supplies that they may have been carrying. He opted to remove the magazine and bullets from the guns rather than taking the weapons themselves as he didn't want to actively carry Big Top colours. He was looting Don, the marauder that Oscar had killed, when he got a surprise. 

The body rose up and jumped for him; having reanimated as an undead. It’s ambush however was met with the bottom of Garfield's boot which slammed down onto its head, spreading its brains across the ground as Henry grumbled.

"Nibble on that." he said to the corpse before turning to the two companions and sticking his head thumb up to signal that everything was okay.

Oscar stared, wary as he gazed upon the gory mess left on the ground. Then his eyes trailed up from the man's boots to his hand, okay, phew, “You alright?” Oscar called out, worried.

Henry nodded with a grin "Sneaky son of a gun tried to get the jump on me. But I taught him a lesson." he laughed.

Henry then grabbed the corpse by it's ankles and dragged it towards the entrance of the cave; tossing it out with contempt before wiping his hands on his jeans. "Good for nothin' varmint." he muttered quietly while walking back to the others.

Oscar couldn't help but smile along with him; mainly relieved that it was nothing serious and he handled it so fast but also, god, that laugh was infectious! He watched as the older man dragged the corpse out, a little bit amazed by how strong both of his current company were. 

"Alright, kiddos. I think the rain's about to let up soon. What'd Ya say we make like a banana and split?" Garfield asked as Claudia looked up at him with a nod.

“Yeah, you’re right.. It does look a whole lot calmer outside.” Oscar noted, the rain slowing down into a soft little pitter patter. The medic bent down to start collecting his belongings, putting all his supplies into the crumpled up bag he used as a pillow for the redhead before starting to help gather all the stuff that he had pulled off of Claudia when he rushed to help her.

"Yeah... Good idea, I just need a minute to get myself together." she admitted as Henry smiled and shook his head.

"Hey, take all the time you need, sport. I mean, you did get shot and all." he said before clearing his throat and trying to change the subject. "Everyone good? Y'all need anything?"

“If you feel at all worse please tell me?” He quietly asked her, not wanting for her to get any worse. He looked over at Garfield. “The same with you!! Uhh, if you start to feel a bit nauseous and dizzy again just say?”

Claudia then grabbed her mace and placed it firmly on the ground. Wrapping her hands around the weapon, she used it as a form of support for her to stand up with a stagger before she regained her balance. 

“Good god. Feels like I’m drunk.” She said as she learned on the rocks against her. Henry cut in. “I’m alright. Feels like I’m floating on air but hey! That the price to pay for being a hero!” He stated proudly. “But do tell me champ. You and the lady just met what what’re you doing out here alone? Did ya have a group or something? Doesn’t matter, I’m your group now. Never know when you’ll need a good ol’ doctor boy on your side.” He said as he lightly poked Oscar’s nose, smiling all the while. 

“Claudia dearest, you in?” He asked as the Knight nodded and waved her hand, motioning him to leave her for now. Oscar gave her yet another worried stare. To which Claudia replied-

"I'm fine, Mack. I've been through worse" Claudia reassured the doctor as she began to pace around the cave with Fulgur walking close beside her so she could balance.

”Alrighty then..” He nodded meekly, Despite her reassurances, he couldn’t help fretting- but he’d have to take her word for it. She was strong after all. 

Regardless, Oscar kept a close critical watch out of the corner of his eye on her, watching incase she took a turn for the worse and he needed to help once again. Though at Henry's question he startled. 

“Oh- me? Uh- Well yeah, I’ve just been by myself for the past while..” He explained, his hands fidgeting with his sleeves before he was shocked by the sudden touching of his nose? He looked at Garfield and gaped. “Was...was there a reason for touching my nose there or? Uh-” The medic nervously asked, not really getting it. “Not that it was bad or anything!!! I’m just- a little confused?” 

Henry laughed at Oscar's peculiar reaction as he put his hands on his hips "You're feelin' pretty uh, uh, bamboozled, right?" he asked before nodding his head firmly.

"You're welcome."

“Thank...you??” He cautiously responded, unsure if that was the right way to answer? Garfield was right, he did feel pretty bamboozled right now.

Soon the rain finally cleared up as the large man exited the cave to see if the area was secure enough. "Seems alright, come on folks, I'll take you to my car."

The young man followed suit after the elder, shouldering his bag and and zipping up his jacket as they left the cave. “How far away did you leave it?” He asked, thinking about the kid Garfield said was currently sleeping away in the vehicle. 

Claudia saw the two getting a head start and began to pick her armour up and try to put it on.

"Heh, not far. Just up past those trees and on the road there, heard the sound of danger and came running, like one of them super heroes." he looked at Oscar with a toothy grin. There was something about this boy, he enjoyed being close to him.

Turning over to see Claudia struggle with her armour, he nearly jumped out of his skin and immediately rushed over to help her "Whoa, whoa! slow down there, cowboy!" he said desperately as he picked her armour pieces up.

"You can't do this alone" he said as she grunted "I said I'm fine..." Her response was met with a frown and a perked brow from Garfield whose hands were now on his hips.

"Yeah well I think you're telling me porky pies. C'mon, you got two very helpful friends here for you. Let me help put it on." he offered as she sighed, defeated. The redhead let him place the armour onto her body piece by piece until she was back to being a silver figure. 

"Looking good, my dude!" He said as he began to lead them out of the cave and towards the road. 

"Y'see, Before I found that girl, I had a bunch of useless stuff stored in my car, so much so that the only seat that was free was mine. Heck I even had a horse trailer attached to the back, so today's your lucky day" he winked to Fulgur as if the horse would understand him while Claudia leaned on Oscar for support.

“Gotcha.” He quietly said with a smile as he held his arms up around Claudia, shifting his bag and taking on some of her weight, mindful of any hard edges of her armour, as they followed Henry along the way. 

"Stuff like what?" she asked as he chuckled "Oh y'know, odds and ends. I had a freakin' wheel for an old ship in the back!" he then shrugged and scoffed "When the heck would I need to use that? So I did a bit of cleaning to make sure there was room." he exclaimed happily before they made it to the road, seeing Garfield's large car in the distance. 

“Thanks, kid." Claudia said softly as she climbed up the hill with her horse. She then saw the trailer and smiled lightly "you're gonna get some rest, big guy" she whispered while climbing up him with a heave and a grunt. Finally sitting on the saddle, she began to lead the horse to the trailer.  
The Medic raised his eyebrows curiously as the man explained about his car. “Ship wheel? Where'd Ya get a hold of that??” He asked, a bit shocked but somehow… It seemed right. Like yeah, of all people present Henry seemed the most likely to have stuff like that kicking about in his belongings. 

"A ship, ya doughnut!" Garfield said bluntly with a half smile, as if it was obvious. Garfield, finding it funny, suddenly picked Oscar up and placed the medic on his back "So ya don't feel left out, champ" he said while beginning to run, attempting to keep up with the horse.

Oscar was smiling, watching as Claudia interacted with her horse, it was so lovely.. Though a fresh wave of concern went through him as he heard her groan getting up onto the creature. That quickly went away as soon as she was settled up on the creature. She was fine, stop worrying, he reminded himself. It was as he was thinking this he felt a strong hand grab him and he gasped- ‘Why the hell does this keep happening to me?’ He thought with a groan as he felt his feet leave the ground as he was picked up. What about him screamed- Hey lift me up! Take my feet away from their safe contact with the reliable ground?! He held onto Garfield tightly as the man ran, his long legs pressed up around his soft middle and his arms grabbing onto his shoulders as he shrieked ever so slightly.

“Give a guy some warning next time? Please!” He pleaded as they trailed the redhead. 

"giving you warning takes too long, I ain't got time for that. I like to live in the moment, ya feel?" he asked as he gripped Oscar's legs to keep him secure.

Claudia's smile soon faded when she saw something in the bushes. Squinting heavily, she saw one of Big Top's members running towards the car, trying to open the door but finding it locked. The man then began to run down the road, attempting to escape to report back to the man himself.

Enraged that one assailant survived and was going to rat them out, Claudia whipped the reigns as Fulgur took off after the man who was now sprinting down the road, panting heavily and trying to coax himself into moving faster with a panicked tone while Claudia called out for him to stop multiple times.

"I won't ask you again!" she demanded.

"Oh shit!" He cried as he heard the galloping hooves getting louder behind him before he felt a huge force ram him from behind, sending him skidding across the road, now lying still.

Fulgur came to a stop as Claudia climbed down and began to approach the man who was helplessly calling out for back up as Claudia towered over him, blocking out the sun.

"You're done... No one's coming for you" she said smugly as he looked up at her, breathing quickly, gasping for air.  
"I think you, I think you broke my back!" he wheezed as she tilted her head. "All you had to do was stop." she replied coolly.  
"You weren't supposed to fight back.. you were supposed to be a simple catch. But you've been out here too long" he croaked as Claudia pulled out her mace and held it above his head, slowly releasing her grip.

"You'll die... You, that little pussy doctor and the big asshole, you'll all die--" his words were cut short as Claudia let the mace go, the weight of it sent the weapon shooting down to the ground, crushing his head against the road in a spectacular gory fashion. Claudia stood in silence for a few seconds before picking her mace back up and flicking the blood off it.

"Shut up." she groaned before approaching her horse again.

Oscar eyes widened even further as he heard the shouting and commotion coming up from up ahead- oh no, what was going on now? 

“Oh crap!” He gasped, catching up with the others just in time to see Claudia drop her weapon on the newcomers head. He winced, the road around where the man's head was…..disgusting and kinda hard to look at. 

“One of the big top guys??” He asked, seeing the corpses swanky get up. 

. He then frowned as he watched Claudia execute the soldier.

"Yeah, champ. Yeah it was... Well! no point in feeling sad, right?" he asked as he propped Oscar on the roof of his car and opened the door to be greeted with the barrel of a gun pointed at his face. Instead of panicking, he simply laughed and shook his head.

"Don't scare me, where'd you get that?" he asked before snatching the revolver and shoving it down his pants.  
"It was empty anyway." he told the assailant, the girl he rescued.

Oscar jumped down from his seat on top of the car, glad to be back down on the ground. He let out a huff and he straightened out his jacket, feeling his stomach churn slightly from the previous hustle and bustling about on Garfield’s back. 

Next person to pick him up? Probably gonna end up getting barfed on. And he would be Very sorry about it but damn, the action made him feel pretty queasy. He hadn’t been picked up like- at all? Since well before puberty and now here we was, easily being picked up like some kinda puppy by these two strong as hell people…. It was weird. 

"Oscar, my dude. This is the girl I found. Please, introduce yourself, kiddo!" he smiled as the girl hugged herself nervously. "Amber?... Amber Laine..."

He was taking a deep breath when he saw what was inside the car. Tiny Girl aiming gun at Garfield. Okay… that was a sight, He let out a half choked- half nervous laugh at the absurdity of the situation. “Uhhh- Heya Amber?” He greeted from next to Henry when the gun was taken out of her hands, giving the girl an awkward little wave. 

Garfield smiled before he walked to the trunk of the car and opened it.

"Hey, Champ, You alright for weapons? Ya look a bit defenseless there. Who knows, some creep could jump out and snatch ya, and take you to his little hideout in the woods!" he joked.

“Here, take this, you can be Dirty Harry!" he exclaimed while pulling out a large calibre revolver. The barrel was a whopping 10". Oscar would definitely die trying to use it. 

Oh- he almost forgot about the gun he had- stashed away in the safety of his jacket. A short while back, Oscar had stitched a guys slashed up arm- and he gave him one of his guns in return for it. He wasn’t the best at using it- horrendous aim when it came to anything more than several feet away from him- but it was comforting having both that and his knife on him. 

He reached into his breast pocket and pulled it out just as Garfield pulled out…..that. He stopped and stared at it with a strained smile on his face. “I-... I think I’ll stick with mine?” 

Amber weakly waved back at Oscar with a confused stare. She'd just woken up to her saviour and two others.  
"Uh, Mr. What's gonna happen with me?" She asked as Garfield frowned at Oscar's denial of the gun. Was it not big enough? Garfield stored the gun away as he cleared his throat, trying to hide his pain.  
“You're coming with us. It ain't safe for a girl like you to be out here on your own. I ain't gonna leave you out here. I'll never get a good night's sleep again."

Claudia sighed as she began to walk back to her horse before stopping suddenly. The sounds of snarling and moaning echoed through the woods as undead slowly began to pour out from the trees. Claudia then climbed onto Fulgur and tried to make it back to the group. However, walkers began to surround them, scaring Fulgur and making him kick which sent Claudia flying off and landing on the ground with a loud thud. 

Winded, Claudia tried to compose herself as she watched Fulgur get surrounded before kicking a walker with his back legs and running off into the distance, abandoning her. With the horse gone, the undead's attention was now drawn to her. The knight used all of her energy to reach out and grab her mace just as a walker went to pounce on her before it's head exploded, splattering blood all over her armour "C'mon!" Garfield shouted to her while firing his revolver.

Claudia then grabbed her mace and stood up, gripping her side again as she began to whack the living dead that surrounded her while weakly running towards the car. "Get in, get in!" Garfield ordered Oscar and Amber as he continued to give Claudia covering fire before he felt a pair of cold hands gripping onto his jacket as an undead grappled onto him and tried to pull him down. Claudia managed to make it to the horse trailer where another walker was stalking Garfield. It's plans were thwarted however when Claudia swung her mace to the side and connected with its head, smashing it off the side of the trailer. "Garfield!" she exclaimed as she tried to make her way towards him while he wrestled with the undead pinning him to the car.

And then everything went to shit, he panicked as Garfield was grabbed and as he ordered him and Amber to get in but like hell he was gonna do that when Garfield was being attacked!! He wasn’t just gonna not try help at all- With his aim and the fact that the thing was so close to the Henry he knew trying to shoot the thing off of Garfield was a recipe for disaster. So he tightly held onto his pistol and with all the strength that he could smacked it off the side of the undeads head- hoping that it will make it loosen its grip and distract it enough to get some space. “Get off of him!!” He frantically shouted. 

Henry caught sight of Claudia being attacked "Oh shoot!" he yelped as he pulled out his revolver, a little smaller than the one he offered Oscar and began to open fire.

Amber scrambled back when the shooting started. Unaware of her surroundings as a walker grabbed the back of her hair, making her flail and scream in a panic. She reached out for something, anything to defend herself with. She wrapped her hands around something and instantly brought it up to the walker, stabbing it through the eye and killing it. 

After Oscar whacked the zombie in the back of the head, it turned to look at him with a snarl. Letting go of Garfield and approaching him. However, it started to stumble and stagger before falling over, dead. Oscar's gun managed to crack it's skull open which pierced it's brain. Garfield checked himself over and began to laugh before he picked Oscar up for a second time, only this time it was a hug.

"You saved my life! I knew you could do it! Thanks, champ!" he exclaimed happily before setting the doctor down and gripping onto his shoulders tightly, smiling brightly at his saviour. 

He then turned to look at Amber who had just stabbed the walker with a trophy for best architect designer. It wasn't his.

"Oh yeah, I dunno why I have that." He laughed as Claudia reached them finally.  
"We have to go, now!" she called before looking at the horse trailer and whacking the link with her mace, detaching it and climbing into the car with the two men. Garfield started the car and began to speed off away from the undead as everyone sighed in relief, finally safe.

He backed away, gripping onto the gun as hard as he could to ground himself and stop him from freaking out any further as the undead turned its attention to him. He blinked as the thing landed at his feet, taken out by his attack. He couldn’t be shocked for long as he felt those big strong arms lift him up and squeeze. Oh! He was being hugged. Really tightly. He wheezed as he was put back down. 

“You saved me back at the cave- we’re even now I guess?” He smiled with a twinkle in his brown eyes. He turned to Claudia- stressing in case her stitches held up during the ordeal. He piled into the car with the others, looking out the window letting out a huff of relief as they left, his shoulders slouching as he leaned his head against the seat. 

Garfield had made sure that Oscar sat in the passenger seat next to him as Claudia and Amber were situated at the back. Claudia denied any help he offered "I'm fine, Just need to catch my breath, I just..." she looked out the window with glassy eyes. Fulgur, her companion, her friend, was lost in the woods. She would be lying if she didn't say it hurt how easily he threw her off and left. It was his life or hers she thought. 

"Hey, we made it out alive, I made it because of this champion right here, huh? You're my hero sport!" Garfield exclaimed joyously as he drove down the desolate road. Looking around his car, it was clear that he had a fascination for cowboys. Dog Tags with his name on them hung on the rear view mirror, implying a military career. Garfield then rummaged down below him and pulled out a big white cowboy hat with a laugh. 

He gave her sad smile, nodding. Poor Claudia… He understood why she wasn’t feeling the best right now.. He’d give her a moment, he was sure she needed it. 

He turned back to look at the driver, and as he was complimented he blushed even harder, the tips of his ears flaming red as he tucked his chin into the collar of his jacket, kinda embarrassed and not used to this kind of attention on him. “Aww-- you don’t have to say that.. I-” He stopped himself- damn, he was so flustered.

He saw Garfield rummage for something out of the corner of his eye so he took that as him moment to have a look around. There… so much stuff piled into this car. If this was it cleared out he dreaded to think of what it was like beforehand. It was kind of nice though? This was waaaay more stuff than he and his mom ever had, so it was pretty interesting to look at, if a tad overwhelming. 

He saw in front of him a little toy- it’s head wobbled as the car drove. Curious, he reached out with his finger and poked it, slightly delighted as it’s little head went crazy…. Amazing. 

"Hey, there it is. Move over, Garfield. There's a new sheriff in town!" he said to himself as he plopped the hat onto Oscar's head. The hat was way too big for the doctor and sunk down over his head, covering his eyes, making Garfield laugh hysterically at how cute it looked. "You'll grow into it, champ." he said. 

His view of the little thing was cut off by nothing but white. 

“Huh?” He exclaimed, reaching up and trying to get his eyesight back. 

“Uhh- sorry! I don’t think my head’s gonna get any bigger?” He apologised, feeling the well loved and rough texture of that- smiling widely at the gift.  
“I could try grow out my hair though? That might make it fit better.” He laughed, taking the hat off, running a hand through his short brown curls and placing it on his lap, holding onto it by the brim. 

"You like my cow?" Garfield asked "that's Flo. She kept me safe, before you came along, Cowboy." He smirked at the doctor before seeing him smile at the hat "Nah, you don't need to, just." he picked the hat up and adjusted it, sitting it on his head so that it wouldn't fall.

"I'll find you a smaller one, we can be partners. You can be my deputy until you're as cool as I am and I let you be the sheriff!"

Amber sat quietly in the back as she looked at the road signs, noting one that was riddled with bullet holes, with directions to a prison a few miles out. She then slouched in her seat as she stared up at the grey sky.

“Uhh- yeah!” He paused, wide eyed. “She’s.. A very nice cow?” He answered with hesitance, unsure of how he was really meant to answer that?  
He was 100% sure that this was the first time he’d ever been asked his opinion on a bovine creature. 

“She’s…..very wiggly?” He nodded, and the hat fell down slightly again, he could still see but... He groaned nonetheless and pulled it back up. Guess he’d just have to be mindful of much he moved his head about. “Partners?” He squeaked out. By some miracle, his smile somehow managed to get even wider. 

“Heck yeah! This is our posse, our gang! Excuse my language but holy DAMN! I got a gang like back in the old west!" Garfield cheered with joy as Claudia looked over at him with a frown.

"Is this because I have spurs? You goddamn saddo." She said with a groan. Amber had no say in this, she just nodded. "sure! Posse sounds nice." She shrugged.

Soon, they entered what looked like a ghetto. The town was black from a mass fire with graffiti sprayed everywhere. "Well, this doesn't look good!" Garfield exclaimed as distance gunshots were heard.

________________________________________________

Several hours had past since the group fled from the roadside cave. A lone motorbike drove down the road before stopping in the middle of the road.

The rider killed the engine and climbed off, their face shielded by a helmet, goggles and a face wrap. To their right was a pile of what looked like garbage. To their left, a blood stained horse trailer. Walking down the road, The rider saw a walker feasting on the corpse of Big Top's informant.  
It's feast was cut short from a bolt to the head by the now crossbow wielding rider who took off their helmet and strolled towards the cadaver and pried the bolt out of it's skull. 

Squatting down on one knee, the rider pulled down the wrap and slid the goggles on their forehead to reveal a fresh faced girl with a blank stare.

She examined the partially devoured corpse before looking over to her left again, further down the road to see an overturned black SUV with another walker devouring a corpse that was hanging out the window.  
The zombie turned to face the rider who shot a bolt into its head and put it down without hesitation as she approached the SUV. She began to examine the body of the driver who's flesh had been peeled off from his face. 

Grimacing at the sight, she patted him down and found a small Glock pistol in his shoulder holster. Shoving it down her belt, she checked the rest of the car and found nothing but blood and a teddy bear. Picking it up, she scoffed lightly and for some reason decided to keep it.

She then walked further into the woods to find the body of the passenger mangled against a tree. Poor asshole wasn't wearing a seatbelt and smashed through the window with this tree breaking his fall. He had nothing of value on him which made the rider turn and begin to walk away before crackling was heard.

"Hello? Hello?" A voice called as the rider looked around before finding the source. It was the radio of the corpse hanging out the window. On his person was a walkie talkie that was emitting the voice.  
The rider hesitantly picked it up and clicked it on but didn't say anything.

"Are the monsters gone?" a young, innocent voice was heard as the rider looked down at the talkie.  
"Yeah. They're all dead." she replied before being met with silence.

"Good. I was so scared" the voice replied as the rider looked around carefully in case there were more lurkers. 

"Who are you?" the rider asked as the voice responded.

"Hazel, Hazel Griffin. Who are you?"

The rider paused for a second before answering.

"Ren, Ren Garfield. I'm looking for my father. Have you seen him?" she asked but got nothing in response.

"Thought not. Where are you? Why don't you come out?" She coaxed as Hazel replied.

"I don't know if I trust you" Ren then looked at the bear and smiled lightly.

"I got your friend" she announced before being met with silence again.

"Okay, I'm coming down" Hazel replied as Ren chuckled "Down from where?" she asked.

"The tree, above you, heads up!" Before Ren could respond, she heard rustling above and looked up as a tiny figure jumped from the branches, forcing Ren to catch her midfall.

"Jesus! That was dangerous! You okay?" She asked as Hazel nodded with an innocent and proud smile, making Ren sigh as she plopped her down on the ground before handing her the bear.

"Mr. Cuddles!" Hazel exclaimed happily as she hugged it 

"Where are your parents?" Ren asked as Hazel rocked herself on her heels as she shrugged.

"I dunno. Those men were gonna take me to them, but the road was full of monsters and we crashed." She said which made Ren blink softly.

"Alright. Well, would you like to come with me in the meantime? I can't leave you alone out here" she got down on one knee again and offered in a sweet, motherly voice that Hazel couldn't help but find welcoming.

"Yes please! I don't feel safe here." She said as Ren stood up and took Hazel's hand before leading her back out onto the road, shielding her from the corpses of the guards. She then lifted the weightless girl up onto the backseat of the bike and pulled out a small helmet.

"This was mine when I was a girl your age. It saved my life. See the scrapes?" She asked as she pointed to them.

"I got into a crash when I was younger. ever since then I've kept it for good luck." she said as she placed it on Hazel's forehead and clipped it on.

"I think it'll give you luck too." She said before climbing on the bike and clipping her own helmet on and taking Mr. Cuddles to shove him down the cleavage of her red leather jacket.

"Hold on tight, I like to go fast." she smirked as Hazel wrapped her tiny arms around Ren's waist as the rider revved the bike up before speeding off down the road, continuing her search.


End file.
